Delhi: 30-yr-old woman with 'rare' jaw opens mouth for first time after successful surgery

30-year-old woman, Astha Mongia, opened her mouth properly for the first time after she underwent an operation at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi. According to PTI, Mongia could not open her mouth due to a rare fusion of the jaw joint with her skull bone, which made her mouth opening so small that she could not even touch her tongue with her hand. However, after successful surgery, the 30-year-old’s mouth opening increased to three centimetres and now she can eat without any difficulty. 

According to the hospital administration, in the last 30 years, Mongia was unable to eat solid food and had difficulty speaking. She had even lost all her teeth due to a dental infection. The doctors said the patient had a tumour over the right half of the face, orbit and forehead, making it such a complicated case that various leading hospitals in India, the UK and Dubai refused a surgical solution. 

Dr. Rajeev Ahuja, senior plastic surgeon, SGRH, said, “For such patients to open their mouth, both the condyles (ball like head of jaw joint) have to be removed. Many a times a tongue-like bony extension in front of ball joint known as Coronoid Process also has to be either removed surgically or at least fractured but in her case this was easier said than done because there was bunch of vessels surrounding the Coronoid Process on the right side”. 

‘It is a miracle…’ 

According to reports, the preparation for the surgery had started three weeks before the operation, when a special injection was applied to the patient’s face to shrink the blood-filled veins. The surgery was then conducted on March 20. At first, the doctors gradually, while rescuing the veins of the tumour, reached the right part of the mouth where the jaw was attached to the skull and cut it apart. Followed by the left part of the jaw. 

The doctors had revealed that if the tumour vein was cut by the slightest mistake, Mongia could have died in the Operation Theatre. The surgery took 3.5 hours and was successful. 

After the surgery, Mongia, who is a senior manager in a government-run bank, called it a miracle and added that now she can open her mouth as well as can eat without any difficulty. Dr Ahuja also added that her mouth opening will also further increase in the coming days with the help of exercises. It is worth noting that while Mongia’s mouth opening increased to three centimetres, a normal person has a mouth opening of four to six centimetres. 

(With inputs from PTI) 

(Rep image: Unsplash)